Akshat Sethia

Professor Enos
ENGW1111
9 November 2016

Context Note
The memoir Ive written is for people who are or will be away from home
such as international school & college students and people having jobs
abroad. My memoir could be published on an online food blog.

Connecting through food

Some people eat to live, but I live to eat.

Back at home, I had everything. My family and friends were there and
everything seems to be in place. Back at home, everything felt so right.
After eighteen years of living in India, it was finally time for me to leave.
Imagine the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone and the horror of
living in a new environment. A lot of people wont understand the fear of
standing alone on the street, feeling completely lost. And yet, this is the
fear that I had to overcome when I came to the United States.

Everything was in place back home. It never got me out of my comfort

zone. Just like one day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down
from a twig and spins itself into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective
casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging
as a butterfly (How does a Caterpillar turn into a Butterfly?). At
university, I transformed from a protective caterpillar into a free butterfly.
It was time for me to face the world by myself. The days had gone when I
could rely on my parents, and friends that Id made over the past eighteen
years. It was my first day at university, I hadnt spoken to anyone and it
was time for lunch. I entered the dining hall, got my food and sat all alone
on a table. After a while, a girl came sat next to be, and its there where I
made my first friend. She was from Indonesia, and I spoke about the food
that I had had there. It took me a while to remember the dishes name, Id
describe the dish and shed guess what it was. From then onwards we
were best friends.

She was curious about Indian food; she had never had some. I thought itd
be nice if I made her some naan (Indian bread) with chicken curry. I
skyped my mum and asked her the recipe for the chicken masala. Yes,
chicken masala, Indian food has a lot of masala (spices), without masala
its not Indian. I cooked it for her, and she enjoyed it, and this experience
made me realize that I could cook. She noticed how Indonesian and Indian
food have few similarities. Both the cuisines have a lot of spices in them.
After a few days, she invited me over for some Indonesian food, it
reminded me of all the different dishes I had in Indonesia and how it felt
so close to the Indian food back home because of the battle between the
various spices that was taking place in my mouth.

As long as I can remember, I have been curious about food. Studies have
never made me curious the same way food does. I wanted to be a chef for
as long as I can remember. While other children refused to eat vegetables,
I was eager to taste every single thing I could get my hands on. Even
though I have tasted a lot of cuisines, Indian food remains to be my
favourite. Indian food is a myriad of colours, textures, and flavours. The
sheer variety of dishes we eat in different parts of our country will always
fascinate me. Although I am currently living in a different country, the
taste of Indian food will always remind me of home. In fact, Indian food
has become my connection to home. Indeed, it reminds me of my
mothers cooking but eating Indian food sure does prevent me from
getting homesick.

The other day I was at an Indian restaurant having dal chaval (lentils and
rice), its something that I have almost every day back home. Back then I
never realised how tasty it was, I would crib to my mother about how we
eat the same thing every day. Having a bite of the dal chaval took me
straight to my dining table. The smell and sight of the dish made me feel
like I was back home with my family, having dinner and discussing about
how our day was. Dinner was the only time I would get to spend with my
parents together- during the day I would be busy with school, dad would
be in the office and mum would be teaching at a montessori. Food is
something thats made me closer to my family back home as well.
I could smell and taste the garam masala (mixed spice - cumin seeds,
coriander seeds, cardamom seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves
and nutmeg) they had put into the dal, it reminded me of Sundays when I
would help my mother prepare this hot spice mix. I never appreciated the
complexity of this spice mix, as a kid I would dislike the pungent kick it
had, yet Id enjoy every second of making it. Mum would say Akshat be
careful while mixing the spices, make sure it doesnt get into your eyes.
Ironically I would always end up rubbing my eyes with my spice coated
hands and mum would coming rushing and yelling with a glass of cold
water and splash it onto my eyes. Ah, that feeling is so good!
That day at the restaurant, I finally appreciated the spice mix. It makes
such a difference in a dish: cinnamon adds sweetness, pepper adds heat,
nutmeg adds complexity, coriander makes it a touch lemony and adds
texture. The spices all play so well together! (a taste worth acquiring) I
could never imagine Indian food without garam masala.

Its not just while having Indian food that Im reminded of home. The
repetitive dining hall food every day reminds me of how I would get bored
of the dal chaval served almost every day at home. But waiting in long
lines not just to get your food, but enter the halls, and getting up while
eating to get some water makes me appreciate the comfort of home. Back
home, I would just sit on the dining table, everything would be set- the
cutlery, the food and most importantly water I wouldnt have to wait for
anything or get up to get something. Everything was taken care off.

Nowadays, my friends and I eat Indian food at least once a week. Were
bored of the dining hall food. We always complain about how the food
here (in America) is so different and how we prefer Indian cuisine over
American. Indian food has so many dishes to choose from, every part of
India has its own taste. The more north you go, youll find dishes with
meat in it, and the more south you go, youll find dishes with seafood in it.
One thing similar throughout the country is the use of spices, every dish
has it. The spices make the dish flavoursome, which I feel American food
lacks. I find the food here too bland, and the options are also limited. In
India, the choices for a vegetarian are as vast (or probably more) as the
choices of a meat and seafood you get here. Would you ever imagine that
there could be a dish made of watermelons! Well, Indian has that and its
super tasty.
Due to the lack of spice in American food, the Indian food here is getting
westernized. Its losing that touch which makes it Indian. The other day I

ordered dal makhini at Mumbai Spice, its an Indian restaurant near

campus. Dal makhini is a lentil soup thats supposed to be eaten with
either rice or naan. Its spicy, a bit dark and not that soupy. But the one I
had there was bland, no spice at all (thats not acceptable in Indian food)
and it was watery. Indian food here has lost its special touch, I understand
that Americans have a lower tolerance to spice than Indians, but you
cant or rather shouldnt remove the spice from Indian food.

Work cited
NPR.org. (2016). Garam Masala: A Taste Worth Acquiring. [online] Available at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/27/135761263/garam-masala-a-taste-worth-acquiring [Accessed
14 Nov. 2016].
Jabr, F. (2016). How Does a Caterpillar Turn into a Butterfly?. [online] Scientific American.
Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosisexplainer/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2016].